Tech transition streamlines JP office work

By Bryan Kirk

Published 9:17 am, Thursday, September 10, 2015

Photo: Jerry Baker, Freelance

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Clerks John Allen, Jennifer Kessinger, left, and Nicole Cano work on processing information to make dealing with the Harris County Courthouse Humble Annex easier for citizens and other courts. Precinct 4, Place 2 Judge Laryssa Korduba said her pledge to bring better technology to the office is almost fulfilled. less

Clerks John Allen, Jennifer Kessinger, left, and Nicole Cano work on processing information to make dealing with the Harris County Courthouse Humble Annex easier for citizens and other courts. Precinct 4, ... more

Photo: Jerry Baker, Freelance

Tech transition streamlines JP office work

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The promise to streamline operations within the Justice of the Peace Office for Harris County Precinct 4, Place 2 has nearly been fulfilled within the first eight months of Judge Laryssa Korduba's first term.

"It's really a transition, and you've got to get everything up and running," she said.

Korduba, who was sworn on Jan. 1, replaced Judge Thomas Lawrence, who was on the bench in Harris County for more than 30 years.

During the campaign, Korduba vowed to streamline services in her court, which included the incorporation of greater technology.

Most things can now be done electronically

"We went from having nothing to the other direction where everything can be done electronically," she said. "Before, everything had to be done by hand. You had to come in here and hand someone a piece of paper."

In fact, many of the computers and scanners that Korduba's office has now were obtained from then-Precinct 4 Constable Ron Hickman, who used funds obtained through seizures from raids conducted on sexually oriented businesses.

"We could not afford it, so we found a way to get it done," she said.

Before the end of the year, Harris County will be implementing a new computer system for the justices of the peace throughout all of the precincts.

Korduba said having what they have now helped her staff prepare for that change.

Before she was sworn in, the office was reliant on paper copies of every document.

That reliance slowed down the process of helping the customers, complete their legal transactions.

"A civil citation would have been prepared on paper and sent by a runner over to the constable's office. It would take two or three days to get it processed," said Rick Schmidt, IT technician in Korduba's office.

"Now, within an hour of someone filing a civil suit, it can be in the hands of someone at the constable's office."

Other civil notices, such as evictions, also have been streamlined

Jennifer Kessinger, who began working for Judge Thomas in 2000, said for years the court was forced to reschedule court dates to allow constables more time to obtain the necessary paperwork.

Keeping court dates is now easier

"We had to allow that two or three days to just allow the citation time to get it over there to them," she said.

"Now we don't do nearly as many re-dates, so we are able to keep the same court dates."

Other issues involved traffic tickets that sometimes took days to come from the constable's office to the justice of the peace court.

That changed when Korduba's office gained access to a secure program called Laserfiche that works exclusively with law enforcement agencies to send electronic copies of traffic citations and other associated reports to the court system.

The program has been operation for several years in other courts, including Precinct 4, Place 1, where Judge Lincoln Goodwin was sworn in earlier this year.

Leslie Avalos, who served as Korduba's assistant chief clerk, said personnel from Goodwin's office helped train them on some of the software, including Laserfiche.

Cosmetic changes allow citizens inside

"They came down and gave us a crash course, sand since then we've been rocking and rolling," Avalos said.

"It's been really good."

Other changes have been cosmetic, such as the removal of several old walls that allowed customers inside.

Now, more windows have been added that allow for a faster response on civil matters or traffic citations.

The changes being made will ultimately save taxpayers money.

"This all boils down to if we are being good stewards," Korduba said.

"The old way was a good way for a long time, but we are getting so busy and so big."